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Dada Masilo

Dada was born and bred in Johannesburg, South Africa. She began formal training at The Dance Factory at the age of 11. At the age of 19, she was accepted as a student at the Performing Arts Research and Training Studios in Brussels, where she remained for two years. She returned to South Africa and in 2008, was awarded the prestigious Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Dance. Three commissions from the National Arts Festival resulted in her ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (2008), ‘Carmen’ (2009) and ‘Swan Lake’ (2010). Since 2012, her works have toured extensively throughout Europe. In 2016, she staged and performed her ‘Swan Lake’ in Ottawa, Montreal, Hannover, Amherst and Pittsburgh, finishing with 6 performances at The Joyce Theater, New York. Subsequently, she was nominated for a Bessie award. She returned to New York that September, to stage her ‘Spring’ at City Center as part of ‘Fall for Dance’ and again 6 months later to create a gallery work accompanying Romare Bearden’s Bayou series. This was performed at the DC Moore Gallery.

In May 2017, she premiered her GISELLE at Dansenshus, Oslo. It has since played in Kuopio (Finland) at the University of Johannesburg; and at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, the Wits 969 Festival in Johannesburg, Impulstanz in Vienna (Austria), followed by seasons in Geneva, Rome, Ferrara and Reggio Emillio. 2017 ended with performances of REFUSE THE HOUR in San Francisco and Los Angeles; and performances of Masilo’s SWAN LAKE in Singapore and across Germany.

Masilo performs in her own works, together with some of South Africa’s finest dance artists, selected by audition. She is Artist-in-Residence at The Dance Factory.